The Salad in my Ramen
by Akatsuki King
Summary: While on the mission to find her father, Sarada gets separated from Naruto and is attacked by Shin. A mess-up in his space-time ninjutsu sends her hurtling back in time to before Naruto was Hokage. Uchiha Sarada, meet Uzumaki Naruto, genin of team 7! Spoilers for those who haven't read past chapter 700. Pairing is Sarada x Naruto. Will be epic in length. Chapter 5 posted!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note (BEWARE OF SPOILERS):** Hey guys! It's been a while! Sorry for the lack of content for the past, oh, how long has it been? A year or two? Wow, time has flown right by! Anyways, I was super pumped to see Naruto finally wrapping up. The last few chapter are actually what inspired this story. Specifically, seeing the interactions between Uchiha Sarada and Naruto. It got me thinking how things would be if they met when Naruto was her age. So here you go. This will be a time-travel story involving Uchiha Sarada. The pairing will obviously be, Sarada x Naruto.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Author: Akatsuki King

Email: Just pm me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 1

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

The jarring blare of the alarm clock brought Sarada out of unconsciousness.

Albeit, a bit ungracefully.

"Mmm, whaa-what?" Sarada stuttered groggily as she jolted upright in the bed, still half asleep. Her hair was a wild nest of raven black, and a single lock had plastered itself flat against the side of her face from a night of lying on it.

 _Did mom buy me a new clock?_ Sarada wondered in the back of her head, not recognizing the sound of that alarm. She rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair out of her face and into a more manageable state.

Sarada blindly hit the snooze button before lying back down, and pulling the covers over her head to block out the sun's morning rays.

"Just five more minutes," Sarada mumbled to herself. She rolled over and snuggled deeper into the back of the person next to her, intent on slipping back into sleep.

 _Smells nice..._ Sarada noted absently after catching a pleasant whiff of the person next to her.

Wait a second… who? Who was she sleeping with?!

Sarada's black eyes snapped open. In one swift motion she cast the blanket off, rolled out of the bed and onto the floor. The adrenaline pumping through her veins pulled her out of her sleep-addled state and into high alert.

Her ninja instincts had fully kicked in by now. Sarada slid into a defensive kata, in preparation for a possible enemy attack, as she took in her surroundings. A cursory look around the room told Sarada a couple things.

Firstly, she was in the apartment of a Konoha ninja. Or she assumed she was, due to the leaf headband and kunai pouch that rested on the bedside table. Sarada slid a kunai out of the pouch and palmed it. The familiar feel of cool steel in her hand helped her to feel a little more at ease.

Secondly, she was naked, as in nothing but her birthday suit naked. Sarada's face lit up with a blush so deep it reach her neck. She saw a black T-shirt and pair of orange boxers lying on the floor and quickly pulled them on.

Armed and covered, Sarada leveled a suspicious and accusatory glare at the bed. She was surprised to find the boy she had been cuddling moments ago still asleep. His messy blond hair spiked out around his head like a miniature mane, but she couldn't see much more then that as he was facing the other way.

She took another look around the apartment. A half-empty bowl of cold ramen sat at the small kitchen table. Empty foam cups of instant ramen were strewn about the room, along with various articles of clothing and crumpled up pieces of paper. The room, surprisingly enough, didn't smell bad. Instead, the distinct aroma of vanilla hung in the air, coming from several scented candles.

A beaten, grungy-looking couch was pressed up against the wall opposite the bed. Above the couch was a poorly drawn picture of a stick figure with long, spikey hair. A single shuriken was lodged in the middle of the drawing's head. Sarada noted where the door and windows were in case she needed to make a quick escape.

Movement from the bed let Sarada know the boy was beginning to wake up. She steeled herself. This boy could be a potential rapist or worse.

The boy rolled over and sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. A breath hitched in Sarada's throat as she caught her first glimpse of his face.

A face with whisker-marked cheeks.

Three lines, reminiscent of a cat's whiskers, ran across each cheek. Combine that with his mop of bright, blond hair...

 _No way…_

The boy was shirtless. An unusual tattoo was etched onto his stomach, its pitch black a stark contrast to the boy's white skin. She immediately knew it was a powerful containment seal. Could that be the seal that contained the Kyuubi? Could this be Lord Hokage?

 _Nanadaime-sama?_

The boy before her looked no older than Boruto! He was perhaps 13 or 14 years old.

Her age.

Sarada was so fixated on his seal that she didn't notice Naruto had stopped rubbing his eyes.

"Who – hey you're bleeding! Are you okay?!" Naruto's confused yell brought Sarada back to focus.

 _Bleeding? I'm not_ _–_ Sarada looked down and saw blood pooling around her feet. The adrenaline from before was just starting to wear off and she could feel the throbbing pain of a reopened wound in her back. She must have ripped open a semi-healed injury when she rolled out of bed.

As the last of the adrenaline left Sarada's body a powerful wave of vertigo hit her. Stumbling over from the dizziness she dropped the kunai. It hit the ground with a sharp _thwack_.

Sarada hit the ground not a second later. Or she would have, if Naruto had not been there to catch her. She felt Naruto's arms pull her close to his bare chest as he lifted her up bridal style.

"Are you okay?"

Sarada couldn't respond to Naruto's concerned question. She had been weak when she woke up, and was obviously not fully recovered from her previous injury. Reopening it caused her to lose more blood than she could afford.

 _I'm going to pass out soon_.

Sarada mentally cursed herself for being so careless. How could she not notice she was bleeding?

"Don't worry, I'm taakiiingg yooooouuu tooooooooo…"

She could no longer focus on Naruto's words. They sounded too far away, like he was yelling at her through a thick wall. She was vaguely aware that she was moving. Or rather, Naruto was moving, carrying her with him. She assumed to a hospital.

As bad as she felt, a sense of security filled her. It would be okay. Naruto-sama would keep her safe.

The Nanadaime had always been there for her.

* * *

 _"Wow Sarada, You've grown so much! I barely recognize the little girl that used barge into my office and complain about Bolt terrorizing her," Naruto said with a chuckle and a smile._

 _Sarada returned the smile, thinking back on all the fond memories she had with The Seventh._

 _"I don't know if you remember, but you used to have such a crush on me back then! It was adorable!"_

 _Sarada blushed redder than a tomato._

* * *

 _"Thank you for babysitting Himawari for us." Hinata said, an elegant smile touching her lips. Sarada couldn't help but feel a momentary pang of jealousy towards the beautiful wife of the Hokage._

 _"It's my pleasure Hinata-hime. I love watching Himawari." Sarada smiled back._

 _"All the same Sarada, you're a real life saver. With all of the political duties that come with running a village, Hinata and I are busy more often than not. It's nice knowing that our kids have such a nice sitter."_

 _Naruto flashed his trademark smile. Sarada couldn't help but feel her insides melt a little bit._

* * *

 _I'm such an idiot_! Sarada berated herself mentally. Why did she have to run ahead!? She fell to her knees, weak from blood loss and chakra exhaustion. A large gash ran its way vertically down the left side of her back, courtesy of the strange shinobi before her.

"Weak," was all the pale, emotionless boy said. He looked down at her with twisted, Sharingan eyes. She assumed they were a Mangekyo of some kind.

Sarada glared at him fiercely, but deep down she was afraid. In her foolishness she had separated herself from the Hokage, and was now seriously hurt. She had few options left, none of them good.

"Sarada!"

That voice… the seventh? She felt his chakra before she saw him. A tidal wave of raw power, it was both comforting and awe inspiring. The killing intent that followed made Sarada shiver.

Naruto landed about twenty feet away, his entire body glowing with yellow chakra.

 _So strong!_ Feeling his true power… It was like someone somehow managed to bottle the sun, only the jar was breaking and the sun was bursting out of the cracks.

The pale boy before her did not seem interested in fighting Naruto. He grabbed Sarada by the wrist. She hung limp in his grip, unable to resist.

"I'll be taking this one."

Suddenly the air around her began to distort, like it was turning in on itself. She saw the Nanadaime disappear in a yellow flash. He was moving faster than she could follow, even with her newly acquired sharingan activated.

She felt her body begin to warp. She had never experienced a time-and-space ninjutsu, but she was able to recognize that this was one.

Time slowed down for Sarada. A yellow, chakra-coated fist smashed into the face of the pale boy. He released his grip on her and went flying in the opposite direction. She could see Naruto's other hand outstretched, trying to grab her, to save her. But for some reason she seemed to be moving further away. She felt like her body was becoming less and less real.

For a couple moments time stopped entirely. She could see the Hokage, motionless in front of her. His right arm was outstretched, less than an inch from her. His whole body was glowing bright yellow, radiating power and light. The three whisker marks that adorned his face where thicker than normal, and seal markings covered various parts of his body.

She could see her reflection in his brilliant blue eyes. Perfectly reflected, like a mirror. She was half gone. Her chest and waist had disappearing into nothing! It was like there was a pinhole in space and she was being sucked through it. It horrified her. She couldn't move, she was powerless to stop it.

 _Naruto-sama!_

A flash of white overtook her, and then everything went black.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I've been toying with this idea for a while now and finally got around to doing it. Again this is a Naruto x Sarada story. The idea is that Shin was using his teleportation technique, but before he could fully teleport away Naruto was able to land a hit and break his connection with the space-and-time ninjutsu. Without Shin to guide the jutsu, Sarada was sent spiraling off through space and time. As luck sees fit (or perhaps due to her close attachment to Naruto) she popped out the other side of the jutsu next to Naruto, years in the past. Let me know if you like it!

I'm on the hunt for a Beta reader. **Edit** : Romantic Silence was kind enough to offer his services as a beta reader. I would like to thank him for all his help in revising this chapter. He is an amazing writer, and has published several stories here on FF. If there are any Harry Potter fans here, you should hop over to his profile and check out his work.

Reviews of any length and or type are welcome (long and short, criticism or critique). So please take the time to leave one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Naruto.

 **Announcement** : Looking for a Beta reader. Message me if you are interested.

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Chapter 2

Naruto groaned unhappily as consciousness flooded his brain.

 _Such a nice dream..._ Naruto lamented. He debated going back to sleep to try and finish it, but that never worked. Plus, he had things to do today.

Naruto grudgingly pulled himself into a sitting position. He felt the blanket slide off of his chest and pool down around his waist. A subtle breeze kissed at his skin, covering his arm and left-side in goosebumps. It felt nice. He always got hot at night, but for some reason he could only sleep well if he was covered.

Yes, he was one of those people.

Naruto absently rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, still not 100 percent awake. Unless there was a sense of urgency, it could take Naruto a good ten to fifteen minutes to fully wake up. Being such a heavy sleeper had gotten him in trouble on several occasions during his academy days. He remembered Iruka showing up on his doorstep, armed with some lecture on responsibility or accountability, and dragging him out of bed on a regular basis.

 _Iruka_. Naruto smiled fondly. He owed that man a lot. Iruka used to leave class to come get him if he didn't show up. He use to feel singled out by the Chunin, he hated it! But looking back on it, Naruto realized Iruka went that extra mile because he cared. Making sure Naruto passed actually _mattered_ to the man _._

 _Did I sleep through my alarm?_ Naruto's sluggish mind wondered. He reluctantly opened his eyes to check his clock.

And froze.

There was a girl in his room.

And she was cute. Straight black hair framed her face, falling just shy of her shoulders. A set of wide-eyed onyx irises stared at him with a mixture of shock and… something else. She looked like a deer in the headlights.

 _She's even prettier than Sakura-chan!_ Naruto thought. Although, she did remind him a little bit of Sasuke-teme. Sasuke didn't have a sister, did he?

The girl was wearing one of his black T-shirts, and a pair of his boxers as shorts. From what he could tell, that was all she was wearing. His cheeks turned an embarrassed shade of red.

The fact that she was wielding a kunai barely registered in his adolescent mind.

"Who – hey you're bleeding! Are you okay?!" Naruto's question turned into a worried exclamation when he noticed the blood pooling around her feet.

The fact that she was bleeding seemed to startle her just as much as it did him. The kunai slipped out of her hand, its sharpened edge bit deep into his floor. For a second her whole body swayed a little, as if her strength was leaving her body. The woozy look on her face told Naruto everything he needed to know.

She was going to faint.

Naruto was by her side in an instant. He caught her just as she began to fall. He lifted her up bridal style, cradling her close to his chest. He could feel the blood on her back, warm and sticky on his arm. His stomach churned uneasily when he saw just how much blood was on the floor.

It was a lot.

 _Shit shit shit shit! What do I do?_ Should he take the time to wrap the wound? He only knew very basic first aid. Would it be faster just to bring her to the hospital? Did she have the kind of time? He knew nothing about how much blood a person could lose and be okay. He'd never really worried about it because all of his injuries healed so fast.

He should have paid more attention during the emergency field-medicine course.

"Are you okay?" Naruto repeated. She didn't, or couldn't, respond. Her half-lidded eyes weren't focused on anything. Was she already passed out?

 _Hospital._ Naruto made the call. He could get their faster than he could wrap the wound, and they actually knew what they were doing. Like a flash he was out his window and roof hopping towards Konoha General.

"Don't worry, I'm taking you to the hospital! Just hold on! You'll be okay!" Naruto half said, half shouted. He didn't know who this girl was, but he definitely didn't want her to die.

He felt the girl nestle deeper into his chest, like a child would in the arms of a parent. No words were spoken, but Naruto felt it.

She trusted him.

That was all it took. Something clicked. His protective instincts kicked on in full gear. All of his concerns about who she was and why she was in his apartment were temporarily forgotten as the overwhelming need to protect took over. He flooded his legs with chakra, willing his body to move faster than it ever had before.

Naruto had always been like that; easily motivated to protect people. Maybe it stemmed from the lack of protective people in his own life. Or maybe it was because he had so few connections growing up.

Whatever it was, this girl was hurt. She was vulnerable. In this moment, she needed him.

And on some level, Naruto needed to be needed.

* * *

" _Naruto. Tell me what again happened."_

" _Erm, well, it's like I told the doctors. I woke up and she was there. She was bleeding and stuff, and then she fainted." Naruto replied._

" _Was she threatening you? Could you read her emotions at all?"_

" _No-no! Actually jii-san, as weird as this sounds, she looked surprised to see me!" Naruto exclaimed._

Today was shaping up to be one big headache. When Naruto stumbled into the hospital carrying an unknown kunoichi, Hiruzen had been notified almost instantly. The implication was obvious.

Failed assassination attempt, failed kidnapping, failed something. But probably something bad.

While Hiruzen didn't like the idea of child soldiers, it didn't stop villages from creating them. If this girl was an enemy he needed to know where she was from and what she was doing in Konoha. Which is why the first thing he did was send a message to the Interrogation and Torture department.

That being said, the Third was an empathetic man. He didn't want to send such a young girl to Ibiki if he could get what he needed from a simple look at her memories. Which is why he decided Inoichi should be the initial interrogator.

A mind probe would do one of two things. Either it would work, and Inoichi could sift through her recent memories, or it wouldn't. The latter would mean she had defenses in place to prevent her memories from being looked at.

Which would tie Hiruzen's hands. He would have to send her to Ibiki.

The aged Hokage looked down at the hospital bed with a frown. Porcelain-like skin, raven-black hair, strong elegant features… She was a pretty girl.

 _So young._ He thought sadly. _But we use to make them younger._ Part of his mind argued that they had no choice back then. It was wartime. But all the justification in the world wouldn't make him feel good about using children as weapons.

 _So many young lives wasted. So much innocence lost._ He sighed. It would do no good to dwell on the past.

Sarutobi pulled a clipboard off the end of the hospital bed.

 _Name: Unknown_

 _Blood type: O negative_

 _Condition: Stable_

 _Report: Vertical laceration on left side of back. 1 foot in length. Tearing of skin and depth of wound indicates a spinning, serrated blade was the cause. Healing puts time of injury to between 12 and 18 hours old. At time of admittance Patient had lost approximately 3 pints of blood, 35% of her…_

Sarutobi stopped reading. This girl had almost died from blood loss. She was lucky to be alive right now.

"Hokage-sama, Inoichi has arrived." A bear faced ANBU announced.

"Send him in." Hiruzen replied. He hung the clipboard back on the end of the bed.

"You summoned me Lord Hiruzen?" Inoichi offered with a short bow.

"This girl," Sarutobi motioned to the bed, "was found by Uzumaki Naruto this morning, in his own apartment. She was seriously injured, and appears to be a foreign shinobi. I want you to find out what you can about her."

Inoichi nodded. The gravity of such a situation was not lost on him. What happened to this girl next would depend on what he found. Inoichi sat on a stool adjacent to the hospital bed and placed his hands on either side of her head.

Sarutobi watched on in silence. The process of digging through someone's mind wasn't an easy one. It took focus, and near perfect control. Over both your chakra, and your mind. Because of that, it was typically very time consuming. Even if subject had no defenses in place, just sifting through memories could take a while.

So when Inoichi jerked his hands away after just a few minutes, Hiruzen was surprised. The man reacted as if he'd been burned.

"Holy shit." Inoichi said under his breath.

That was out of character. The Yamanaka clan head never swore.

"What did you see?" Hiruzen demanded.

"She's… she's one of us." Inoichi whispered. "Her memories, all I can tell you is they haven't been tampered with. My Saiko Denshin (Psycho Mind Transmission) no jutsu would show me her true memories, even if they were forgotten or repressed. That being said…" Inoichi trailed off, sending the girl a look of utter disbelief.

"What?" He prodded. Sarutobi had never seen Inoichi react this way. It put him on edge.

"She's from a different time. The future. I stopped looking through her memories once I got far enough back to know it was real. She was sucked into a Jikukan (time-space) ninjutsu, and from what I can tell, woke up in Naruto's bedroom."

Silence.

"What?" Sarutobi repeated incredulously. Time travel? Ludicrous! It was widely accepted that Jikukan techniques were incapable of traveling backwards through time. Many had tried, all had failed. It was simply against the laws of nature.

"She's a genin from Konoha's future. Her name is Uchiha Sarada. She's-"

"Stop." Sarutobi commanded. If what Inoichi claimed was true, then the future had already been irrevocably changed. Her appearance in Naruto's bedroom would create a butterfly effect that would change the future of Konoha.

He was still trying to wrap his brain around it.

"You're sure her memories aren't fake? She is a shinobi from a future version of Konoha?" Sarutobi asked. He felt… skeptical. This whole situation had a surreal feel to it.

That being said, he trusted Inoichi with his life.

"I have no doubt Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi's mind reeled at the implications. This was bad, right? It felt bad. But whatever damage was done was now irreversible. Even if they killed this girl to prevent any further deviation from the original timeline, it wouldn't reverse the changes that had already occurred. Naruto would never have come to the hospital, Sarutobi would still be at the Hokage's office, the hospital's medics wouldn't have spent time healing her, Inoichi would probably be running his flower shop, and so on.

Such simple changes may seem small, but they could easily dictate a different future for Konoha. Which meant there was no way to send her back. Even if the jutsu existed (which it didn't) her presence in the past had irrevocably changed the future. Her version of Konoha might not exist anymore.

Crap.

 _This crazy shit never happened when Harashima was Hokage_. Hiruzen thought grudgingly.

"Can we trust her?" Sarutobi asked.

Inoichi was quiet for several minutes. Sarutobi knew he was taking a second look at the memories he pulled from the Sarada's head.

"Yes. She is loyal to the Hokage of her time, and the village by extension."

Sarutobi nodded. That was good news at least.

"Inoichi, I want you to erase your memory of this meeting. You were never here, you don't know this girl. The truth of where she came from is now an S-class secret. Send in Bear before you go." Sarutobi ordered.

Tempting though it may be, the Third was too wise to want to know the future. Any knowledge would have had to be considered fruit of the poisonous tree, simply because the timeline had been altered. Her presence in the past meant nothing they could learn from Sarada was 100 percent reliable.

It was better for the future to be left unknown.

"Hai Hokage-sama." Inoichi gave a curt bowed before he turned and walked out the door.

Sarutobi had a plan. It was a half formed plan, but he was a smart man and rolled with the punches relatively well. But before he could do anything else, he needed to arrange a believable cover story for Sarada. A Bear-masked Anbu walked in and waited patiently as Sarutobi finished writing the order down on a scroll. It contained the general information he wanted the cover story to contain. The Intelligence department would fill in the rest, beef it up, forge the relevant documents, and create the necessary character witnesses.

"Bear, deliver this to Sarume. It is to be given priority status over any other project. I want it completed as fast as possible." The Anbu took the scroll, gave a formal bow and disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

Sarutobi looked back at the unconscious Sarada. He was taking a risk. This girl posed a significant threat village security. If someone discovered she had knowledge of the future, she would become the target of every country in the shinobi world. But he didn't have the heart to kill or imprison her.

Sarutobi's wrinkled fingertips glowed white and kanji appeared upon them. As much as he hated Juinjutsu, precautions had to be made. Placing a Zekka Konzetsu Seal (Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal) on someone so young may seem cruel, but it would prevent her from giving away dangerous information if she was ever interrogated.

Days like today, Sarutobi truly felt his age upon him. He hoped he this was the right decision.

* * *

 _Thump!_

"Ow!" Sarada hissed. She'd rolled onto her side and smacked her head into a roll bar on her bed.

No longer weak from blood loss, she felt her memories rush back to her. That weird pale-ninja, the time-space jutsu, waking up in that strange apartment, Nanadaime…

Sarada sat up abruptly. That's right, Lord Hokage was so young! How?

"Please lay back down. You are still recovering."

Sarada whipped her head to look at the voice. A familiar face smiled back at her. A face she had only ever seen carved into the rock of the Hokage Mountain.

"Sarutobi… Hiruzen…" She whispered. The Professor, God of Shinobi, was sitting at her bedside.

A man who died before she was born.

"You lost a lot of blood, so please take it easy." His tone was friendly, but the message was loud and clear. It was not a request. It was an order from the Hokage.

Sarada quickly laid back down.

"Before we talk about anything else, I'm interested to hear how you wound up in young Naruto's room."

Sarada didn't respond immediately. She wasn't sure what to say. She thought a simple, 'I'm from the future, got sucked into a time-space ninjutsu, and woke up in Naruto's bed,' might not fly.

It was just a hunch.

But lying wouldn't fix her problem. This was a Kage, a ninja of legend. Not just any Kage mind you, this was the Sandaime! Heralded as a prodigy of prodigies, he was widely considered the smartest of all Konoha's leaders. He would see through any lie she concocted.

Maybe he would be able to help her? The stories called Sarutobi Hiruzen a master of every ninja art. Maybe he could send her back? The truth was her best option.

"I-." Without warning, her whole body froze. A wave of intense fear washed over her when she realized she was paralyzed. Her mouth, hands, eyes, everything. And then, as quickly as it came, it passed. Sarada was left shaken and scared, but unhurt.

"Good, good. The seal is working. It's also nice to know your first instinct was to tell me the truth." The Hokage said.

Seal? What was he talking about? Is that what caused... whatever that was?

"I'm sorry, that must have been frightening. But I hope you understand that this seal is as much for your safety as ours. It's a fuinjutsu/juinjutsu hybrid that will activate if you try to reveal certain details of your past that have not occurred yet in our timeline. Such information would be very dangerous if it fell into certain hands."

So he already knew who she was. Did a Yamanaka go through her memories? She felt somewhat violated, but she wasn't surprised. They probably thought she was an enemy. She was more concerned about the seal. That fact the Hokage would put such a powerful fuinjutsu on her made her heart sink. It could only mean one thing.

"There's no way for me to go back, is there?" Sarada whispered. It was more of a statement than a question.

Sarutobi shook his head. "I'm sorry."

For a moment she felt numb. Not sad, not afraid, not angry, just… numb. It was too much, it was crazy. How could she process it all? She would never see her mother again? What about Himiwari and Bolt? Were they just gone?

More and more of these thoughts filled her mind, and the numbness slowly gave way to overwhelming loneliness. Everyone she knew, gone. Wiped off the face of the earth. She rolled onto her side and hugged her knees into her chest. Tears formed in her eyes, and before she knew it she was sobbing uncontrollably.

She felt the bed move as the Hokage sat down next to her. His firm hand squeeze her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's alright." The Hokage's voice soothed her. "Just cry it out."

And she did. She cried and cried. More than she ever had. She felt silly for ever leaving Konoha. She regretted being so suspicious of her mom. She blamed herself for running ahead of Nanadaime-sama and getting sucked into this different world.

The old arms of the Third Hokage picked her up and pulled her onto his lap. She learned her head against his shoulder and cried until there were no more tears left.

"Wa-wha-what do I do na-now?" She choked out, her voice weak and breaking.

"You adapt." Sarutobi offered. He pulled away from her so he could look into her eyes. "You are a kunoichi of Konoha. That means something. It doesn't matter if you were born 50 years ago or 50 years from now. We stick together. That is what makes Konoha strong."

His words made Sarada feel a little better. Even if it was only marginally. Although they had just met, he seemed to genuinely care about her. In that aspect, he reminded her of the Nanadaime. Maybe that's what being Hokage meant; loving the whole village as if it was you own family.

Sarutobi hugged her warmly. His embrace was gentle and comforting. He gave her a quick squeeze before ending the hug.

"I've registered you as a Konoha genin. The Intelligence Division has already created your cover identity. You have been placed on leave with pay, so you won't have to go on missions until you are ready." As Hiruzen spoke he lifted her off his lap and laid her back on the bed.

She couldn't respond. He was going to let her live off of paid leave? The idea gave her some sense of security. At least she didn't have to worry about what she would do to survive. And he was going to give her time to adjust. It was more than he had to do, a _lot_ more. The kindness of the Third Hokage was the only thing making her new situation bearable.

"If you are up to it, I have your new identity here," Sarutobi handed her a scroll and a couple of documents. She recognized one as a birth certificate and the other as a CIN (Citizenship Identification Number) card.

"Once you've memorized everything, we can let your visitor in. If you're up to it that is."

 _Visitor_? Sarada wondered. She was unsure who would be visiting. She didn't know anyone.

The Third must has seen her puzzled look.

"Naruto has been waiting, rather impatiently I'll add, in the guest area all morning." Sandaime said with a little laugh. "He wouldn't leave until he knew you were okay."

"Naruto-sama?" She whispered. He was still here? She remembered the incident from earlier that morning and turned a deep red. The idea of talking to Naruto face to face made her nervous.

The image of Nanadaime, an avatar of power cloaked in golden chakra, flashed through her mind. She shivered. He was the single strongest ninja Konoha had ever produced. The jinchuriki of the mighty Kyuubi, hero of the Shinobi Alliance. Everyone loved him.

Although, she guessed most of that hadn't happened yet.

Still, why would he waste his time waiting around a hospital for a girl he didn't know?

Wait… if Naruto was alive, then so was her mother... And her father! It would be weird to meet their younger selves. She wondered what her mom was like before she became one of Konoha's greatest medics. As far as her dad was concerned, she didn't really know him to begin with. She just knew he was a hero, and the one ninja that could fight Nanadaime on equal footing. The legends said it took their combined power to defeat Kaguya during the Great Akatsuki War.

That was a scary thought. Her dad must have been ridiculously strong.

She would have laughed if she wasn't so overwhelmed. She left the village to find her dad. Maybe this was her chance to finally get to know him.

Sarada began to go look through the documents the Third had given her. She started with her birth certificate.

 _Rinha Sarada._ She was glad to see she got to keep her given name. She'd never heard of the Rinha clan, but maybe that was the point. She noted her mother's name. Rinha Mei. No father was listed on the certificate. She set it aside and unrolled the scroll.

Wow. There was a LOT of information here. It didn't just tell a story, it had the names and faces of past caregivers and childhood friends. She assumed they were undercover ninja or people who worked for the Hokage. All in all, it was a very elaborate cover story. The Intelligence Department even gave her a token pet dog named fluffles.

He ran away when she was 7.

Long story short: Her mother, Rinha Mei, was a prostitute. Her father was a faceless, nameless client. Sarada had been left at an orphanage as an infant. It was there she grew up.

Why did she have to be the orphan child of a hooker?

But the more she read the more it made sense. It set her on a path with few friends and almost no connections. It would make it easier to write her into existence.

Sarada was almost finished reading. She was caught up to recent events. Apparently she ran away from the orphanage a week ago. The little money she had saved up didn't last long, so she took up petty theft to get by. Last night she stole from the wrong person. The cut on her back was from a man who got over zealous and decided to teach her a lesson with a kunai.

It stopped there.

"Sumimasen Hokage-sama, but it stops before telling me how I wound up in Naruto's house." Sarada said. She gave the Kage a questioning look. It was a pretty vital part to be left out.

"Ah yes. The request I sent them stopped there. You see, I wasn't sure if you'd activated your sharingan yet." Sarutobi answered.

"Um, yes… but only recently. I don't really know how to use it yet." Sarada finished, a little unsure what this meant. She was familiar with the Uchiha massacre. Would they have to keep her sharingan a secret? There weren't many Uchiha wondering around. It would be suspicious if one just popped up out of nowhere.

"That's convenient." That worked out a little better than Sarutobi expected. He doubted Sarada would have been able to hide her sharingan if it was awakened on a mission, so it was best to work it into her story now. And now Konoha was one loyal Uchiha stronger.

"This is what happened last night: you almost died when you were attacked. Being put in a life or death situation awakened your sharingan, and with its help you managed to disarm the assailant. You ran away, climbed up a random fire escape and went through the first open window you saw to hide. It just happened to be Naruto's. You passed out, and Naruto brought you here. As a concerned leader," Sarutobi said with a wink, "I came here to question you. It didn't take long for me to figure out you were a Uchiha. I offered you a position as a Konoha Genin under the condition that you agreed to remedial training." Sarutobi finished.

 _It works_ _,_ Sarada thought. Because of who her 'mother' was, it would be easy to believe a Uchiha got her pregnant.

Hiruzen picked up the scroll from Sarada's lap. A small pulse of chakra and it disintegrated. He grabbed the birth certificate and CIN card.

"I had copies of these filed at both the hospital and the Hokage tower. I will have these put in your new apartment. I know it's a lot to take it, but I couldn't wait very long or people would start asking questions I didn't have the answers to yet." The old man gave her another friendly smile. There was sadness on his face, he sympathized with Sarada. It wouldn't be easy losing everyone in one day, and then being forced to recreate yourself. He gave her shoulder another squeeze.

Sarada managed to give him a small, but grateful smile. She was appreciated what he was doing for her. It would take her time to adjust, but at least she had the support of a Hokage.

She knew now more than ever how important such a man was. She knew three in her life, and they were the greatest men she'd ever met.

"Thank you." She whispered. She blinked quickly, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

"Now, if you would like, I can let young Naruto in." Sarutobi saw how she reacted earlier when he mentioned the boy. She'd whispered his name with the utmost respect. Naruto was apparently a big deal in the future, at least to this girl. Perhaps he was Hokage in her time? The thought made him smile. Maybe Naruto would finally be seen as the hero he was always meant to be.

Sarada's stomach did a back flip. Why was she so nervous? She'd known Naruto-sama all of her life. He was there for her when no one else was. When she couldn't talk to her mother, or when she had questions about her dad. Sad as it was, he was probably her best friend.

Pathetic right? He probably only cared about her because he cared for every person in the village. In the same way the Third was being kind to her now. But still, she couldn't think of a time when he turned her away. He always made time to listen.

He always made time for _her_.

And now they were the same age. It changed things. He wasn't the Hokage anymore. She twisted the blanket in her hands anxiously. She pushed those thoughts aside. She refused to get so nervous.

 _I'm not a stupid fangirl._ She thought indignantly. Memories of Bolt's fan club drifted through her head. Stupid, lovesick girls who were basically useless ninja.

 _I've never been like that, I won't start now._

Sarada looked into the up into Hiruzen's weather face and nodded.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Thanks for all the feedback guys! I hope everyone liked this chapter.

Reviews of any length are welcome and encouraged! Like most writers on FF, I appreciate seeing that people enjoy what I write. A lot of effort goes into writing my stories, so it's nice when people take the time to give me feedback. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 3

A bell chimed as the door to the prominent flower shop opened and closed softly. Mina Yamanaka looked up from the white calla lily she was tending, ready to greet the customer. She smiled when she saw it was her husband, Inoichi.

"You've been gone a while. What did the Hokage want?"

Inoichi didn't answer. Instead he made a face that Mina knew too well. A face that meant he was in on something hush-hush and couldn't tell her.

"Very well," She said with a sigh.

"Sorry honey."

"No, no, it's alright. I knew when I married you that I was marrying a man who would have to keep secrets." She kissed Inoichi on the cheek and moved back to her plant.

Mina took a moment to admire her handy work. The white flower was beautiful, and highly poisonous. The calcium oxalate crystals that formed inside of it were toxic, and this strain was particularly deadly. She'd genetically altered it to produce a more concentrated, powerful toxin. And because Mina could alter the flower on a cellular level, she could change the chemical makeup of the toxin slightly, so that no two batches were exactly the same.

Which was useful for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, it prevented people from building up an immunity, or creating a preventative antidote.

The bell chimed a second time as the door swung open again. A young brunette walked in.

"Tenten!" Mina said warmly. "How's your training going?"

Tenten smiled back at the blond woman.

"Oh, you know my sensei. If it's not a 1000 squats, it's a 1000 pushups."

Mina laughed. That sounded like Gai.

"Is my order ready?"

 _Oh no_. With Inoichi gone all morning, Mina never got a chance to finish Tenten's order! She set her tools down and moved behind the counter. She hated disappointing customers, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided.

"I'm sorry, but it's not finished yet. Inoichi was called into a meeting with the Hokage this morning, and extracting and distilling the toxin is a two person job."

"Oh." Tenten was obviously put out. The thought of sending the young genin away unhappy left a bad taste in Mina's mouth. The Yamanaka's were nothing if not responsible store owners. That meant orders needed to be filled on time, or accommodations would have to be made.

"Perhaps I could interest you in a different poison? I would give you 30% off as an apology for the late order," Mina offered.

The high quality weapons poison the Yamanaka made was expensive, and Tenten was living on a genin's salary. That meant most of her income came from low paying D-rank missions. So naturally, she jumped at the opportunity to buy some at a discount. Thirty percent off was a huge deal!

Even if it wasn't what she ordered.

* * *

Naruto gazed lazily at the white ceiling of the hospital room. It was a drop ceilings with the large foam tiles that sat inside of metal runners. Every so often a tile would be replaced by a semi-translucent sheet of plastic with a florescent light behind it. The nearest of which seemed to be broken, and it flickered unevenly.

Naruto's face scrunched into an annoyed scowl. He hated hospitals. He hated the smell, the white washed look, the atmosphere, pretty much everything. Even the furniture. The couch he was currently draped over was as uncomfortable as it was ugly.

And that was saying something considering it was upholstered with the worst floral print he'd ever seen put to fabric.

 _How much longer is the old man gonna take?_ Naruto thought miserably. He'd been waiting for hours.

In the Hokage's defense, he'd warned Naruto that it might be quite some time before the - as of yet unnamed - girl would be ready to have guests. That being said, Naruto couldn't just leave. After all, he was the one that brought her to the hospital. He just needed to make sure she was okay, and ask a few questions.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder who she was, and how she had gotten hurt so badly. _And why she was wearing my clothes,_ He added, turning a little red. Not wanting anyone to see, he rolled onto his chest and buried his face into the couch cushion.

It smelled like old people and disinfectant.

 _Gross._

Naruto rolled off the couch and let his body to fall to the ground with a muffled thump, startling a nearby nurse. She sent him a withering glare, which Naruto ignored. He was used to the looks and the whispers, so they didn't faze him much. At least, he liked to pretend they didn't. As tough as Naruto acted, it still hurt sometimes.

Naruto closed his eyes and stretched out on the carpet. It was actually more comfortable than the couch.

Typical.

Aside from the staff, Naruto was the only person in the waiting area. So he didn't particularly care if it was polite to lay spread-eagle on the floor. Besides, he was too preoccupied with thoughts of the mystery girl to care.

 _I hope she's okay_. Naruto thought grimly.

She'd lost a lot of blood. Naruto didn't really known how much, but he remembered seeing his reflection in the bathroom. Blood had been smeared all over his chest, his arms, his hands...

Naruto fingered the hem of his grey scrubs. They fit awkwardly, obviously made for someone larger than him, but Naruto was glad to have something clean to wear. His orange pajama pants had been stained with blood in several places. One of the doctors had brought him the pair after seeing the condition of his clothes.

That was something Naruto liked about the hospital. The doctors were nice. No mean whispers, no sneers, he actually got a smile and a wave or two. Either they didn't know who he was, or they simply didn't care.

Naruto opened his eyes and peered at the clock ticking away on the far wall. It was 12 o'clock. He'd been at the hospital since 9.

Naruto let out an exasperated groan.

"Comfortable?" Someone questioned from behind him.

Naruto jumped, startled by the sound of his sensei's voice.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto half-exclaimed, half-questioned. He climbed to his feet. What was Kakashi-sensei doing here?

Oh crap! The team meeting! He'd missed it!

"Heh heh… sorry I missed the meeting," Naruto muttered lamely. He scratched the back of his head with one hand and laughed nervously. "I know we were gonna do missions and stuff today. But, uhh…"

Kakashi could be scary as hell when he was mad, and Naruto really didn't want to piss the jonin off.

"Don't worry. Lord Hokage sent a message filling me in on what happened this morning."

Naruto relaxed. Thank Kami, he really owed the Third for that one. The last time Naruto slept through a team meeting, Kakashi decided to assign him a D-rank _babysitting_ mission. Solo.

He shuddered. _God damn demon children._

"Any news?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head and plopped down on the couch.

"Not really. The doctors told me she's stable, but that's all they told me," Naruto answered with a frown.

"Where's Sakura and Sasuke?" Naruto asked, noticing his teammates' absence.

"Oooh, probably still chasing Tora," Kakashi said with a mischievous eye-smile, "Just because you got out of missions for the day doesn't mean they get to."

Naruto tried not to laugh at his teammates' misfortune. That was one mission he didn't mind missing. Chasing Tora down was his least favorite D-rank.

Actually, scratch that. Tora was a close second. Nothing was worse than babysitting.

"Anyways, I just stopped by to give you an alternative assignment." The silver-haired man tossed a small, hardcover book at Naruto. Naruto caught it at the last second.

The cover read, _101 Chakra Control Techniques_.

"But sensei, I can already use chakra. Shouldn't I be learning some super cool jutsu?" Naruto sent his sensei a confused look.

The jonin gave an unimpressed sigh.

"Using chakra, and mastering your chakra, are two very different things. You have a lot of chakra, and because of that you've been able to get by with poor control. But that won't work forever. If you want to get stronger, you need to work on your base skills."

Naruto wanted to argue, but he stopped himself. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Kakashi was right. His chakra control sucked. Hell, he couldn't even perform a regular bunshin technique.

"Besides, I thought you wanted to become Hokage? There isn't a technique in this book that a Kage level person wouldn't be able to complete."

That was obviously a challenge. Naruto grinned.

Challenge accepted.

"Heh, no problem! I'll master every technique in it!"

Kakashi smirked behind his mask. That went pretty much how the jonin expected. If Naruto could master just a couple of those exercises, his chakra control would improve significantly. And if Naruto got stronger, it would motivate Sasuke to train harder.

Two birds, one stone _._

"Well, I'm going to check on Sakura and Sasuke," Kakashi said as he turned to walk away, "Make sure you start from the beginning."

Kakashi gave a lazy wave over his shoulder, and then disappeared around the corner.

Naruto wasted no time in flipping the book open.

 _Chapter 1, an Introduction to Chakra._

* * *

Naruto sat cross-legged on the floor. A single sheet of paper was stuck against his forehead. The top of the paper flopped forward, casting a shadow over Naruto's face. His hands rested on his knees, palms up. A pen cap rested in one, a paperclip in the other.

Naruto's eyes were squeezed shut in concentration. The pen cap rolled around his hand erratically. Wordlessly, he willed his chakra to push the cap into the air and hold it.

Slowly but surely, it started to float, until it was about an inch above his palm. It hung there, rotating slowly, suspended by his chakra.

 _Got it!_

The little victory was satisfying. The exercise was trickier than Naruto expected. If Naruto applied to much chakra, the cap would fly across the room. If he didn't use enough, it just rolled around his hand.

Finding the right balance was _hard._

Now for the paperclip. The idea was to get it to hover just like the pen cap. The only difference was the paperclip's thin, wiry shape gave it very little surface area to push against. Which made it a pain in the butt.

Naruto pushed a small, but deliberate stream of chakra out of his palm. The paperclip wobbled a bit in his hand.

 _I got this!_ Naruto assured himself. He willed his chakra to pool around the paperclip and lift-.

ZING! The paperclip shot into the air, becoming lodged in a foam ceiling tile.

"Crap!" Naruto growled in annoyance. The sheet of paper fell off his head and the pen cap fell to the floor as he lost concentration.

 _So close_! Naruto lamented. Maybe he was missing something? Naruto picked up the book and searched its pages. He stared at the words long and hard, half expecting some hidden answer to jump out at him.

Nothing did.

"Glad to see you're using your time wisely."

Naruto looked up from his book to see the kind face of the Third Hokage.

"Jii-san!" Naruto greeted the old man. He closed the book and jumped to his feet. "How's she doing?"

"She's fine, a bit banged up, but fine," Sarutobi replied calmly, "Would you like to come in? I'm sure you have a couple questions you'd like answered."

* * *

To say Sarada was anxious didn't cover it. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, she thought it might burst out of her ribcage.

 _Calm down,_ she told herself. A shaky breath rattled passed her lips and she closed her eyes. She willed her heart beat to slow down, until it was a more normal beat.

She honestly wasn't sure why she was so worked up. Yes, she didn't want to lie to Naruto. But she was a ninja. She was trained in lies.

 _But no one lies to Nanadaime_. At least, not successfully. Back in the academy, there was a rumor the kids use to tell at school. They claimed Naruto could sense people's emotions. He could literally _feel_ a lie.

Sarada never put any faith in rumors, so she went to the source and asked him herself.

" _Is that what they say about me?" Naruto asked, a curious twinkle in his eye._

 _Sarada nodded in affirmation. It couldn't be true, could it? She'd never heard of a sensor being able to sense emotions._

" _Well yeah, I guess it's true," Naruto said with a little laugh. He seemed almost embarrassed that he had to brag about his powers._

Sarada shook her head to clear away the memory. That was the future, she reminded herself. Naruto probably couldn't do that, not yet. If he could, Hiruzen would have warned her. But she couldn't stop the uneasy feeling she had. Her anxiety really boiled down to one fear.

What if Naruto didn't like her?

In her time, he was forced to care about her. He was the Hokage, and she was the daughter of his teammate. How would things be now that she was just some girl?

Her eyes darted to the door as it swung open. The Third walked in, followed by Naruto.

Sarutobi greeted her with a nod and a smile. There was something warm and friendly about the man that made Sarada feel comfortable. His presence was soothing, almost cathartic.

"Sarada, this is Naruto."

Sarada took a second to look at Naruto. The first thing she noticed was how much shorter he was. It was hard to believe her tall Nanadaime-sama was once the short teen that stood before her. His face was more childish, but not in a bad way. The whisker marks that used to make him look more animal than man were softer, less pronounced.

But as changed as he was, one thing remained the same. His eyes. They were blue in the way that only Naruto's eyes were blue. Bright, warm and hopeful, all at the same time.

"So you're okay?" Naruto asked concernedly.

Sarada nodded. She was suddenly overly aware of her hands, and had no idea what to do with them. She folded them in her lap.

"Thank you." Sarada whispered. "Thank you for saving me." She repeated a little louder this time, with a bow of her head.

"Heh, it was no big deal!" Naruto waved his hands dismissively. A bright smile broke across his face.

The foxlike grin was contagious, and she felt a little smile tug at her lips as well.

"Besides, what kind of future Hokage would I be if I couldn't save a pretty girl like you!?"

 _A pretty girl like you._ Sarada reddened. The future Hokage comment also surprised her. So even at this age, Naruto planned on becoming Hokage.

"But, um, how did you get hurt so badly?" Naruto asked, suddenly serious.

Sarada instinctively sunk a little deeper into the pillows she was propped up against. It was time for her to lie. She pushed a couple loose strands of hair behind her ear and swallowed hard.

"I-I'm an orphan," She started, shying away from Naruto's surprised look. "But I hate the orphanage, so I ran away."

Sarada stared at her hands. They were balled into little fists, bunches of sheet held tightly inside.

"Last night I got caught stealing food. A man attacked me. He-he cut my back." Sarada paused and moved her hand to feel the side of her back. She could feel the large, ropey line through her hospital gown. With the proper treatment, the wound would heal with little to no scarring, but for now she would have to live with it.

She dropped her hand back into her lap and continued.

"I managed to get away. I-I ran as far as I could." Sarada felt hot tears forming in her eyes. She was barely managing to keep it together, and she was about to fall apart. She hadn't been given much time to process any of this. Everything felt so raw still. Telling this lie tipped her over the edge.

Wet tears rolled down her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them away. She didn't want Naruto-sama to see her cry.

"When I couldn't ra-run anymore, I cl-climbed through yo-your window to ha-hide," Sarada finished, her voice cracking emotionally.

For a several moments, silence hung in the air.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto was at a loss for words. This girl's sounded so scared and alone. Without realizing it, the sense of responsibility he felt towards her grew.

But there was one question her story hadn't answered.

Why had she been wearing his clothes this morning?

"Your clothes… why were you wearing…" Naruto trailed off.

He drew conclusions. When Sarada climbed into his apartment, in order for her to need clothes, she would have been naked. This man, whoever he was, had he tried to…?

Red engulfed Naruto's vision as rage flooded his mind.

Someone tried to touch her? He gritted his teeth, and his hands curled into shaky fists at his sides. A hand on his shoulder snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.

It was the Third.

Naruto tried to calm down. It was difficult, but he managed to shove his anger aside. At least for the moment. As pissed as he was, he knew that the old man would handle it.

"The doctor wants to keep Sarada over night to monitor her, but she's been cleared to go home in the morning. However, I'm not comfortable sending her home by herself. Given recent events I think she could use someone to watch over her as she recovers. It won't be an official mission, but –"

"I'll do it," Naruto interrupted. This girl, through a very unfortunate series of events, had been thrust into his life. For better or worse, he was involved. And Naruto wasn't the kind of guy to walk away from things.

Especially when pretty girls were involved.

* * *

"Sensei, could we ask for a mission outside of the village? It's been so long since we've gone anywhere," Tenten complained. In all honesty, she just wanted a break from training. Gai and Lee had a ridiculous work ethic, and while she liked to think she was a pretty serious kunoichi, she felt like she deserved a breather.

Tenten wasn't the only one who wanted a change in pace. Neji was getting stir crazy too. But then again, the pair had arguably the single most eccentric jonin in all of Konoha for a sensei. And his mini-me as a teammate.

"Hmmm, a mission? What a wonderful idea Tenten!" Gai exclaimed, giving Tenten a thumbs up.

"Iruka! Do you have any missions that require travel outside of the village?"

Iruka shuffled threw a stack of papers before pulling one from the pile.

"How about C-rank escort mission? We have a bridge builder from wave who would like some bodyguards to protect him from potential bandits."

 _Wave?_ Tenten thought curiously. She'd never heard of it. But with a name like wave it had to be pretty, right?

"Ah, a bridge builder seeking protection! Sounds like a perfect mission for my precious students!"

Tenten rolled her eyes at her sensei's antics. But she couldn't help but feel excited. Deep down, she hoped they would run into some bandits, or maybe even enemy ninja. She was itching to try out her new poison.

With that 30% discount, Tenten had been able to get a poison that was a higher quality than anything she'd ever used before. And the side effects sounded _awesome_. As long as someone else was on the receiving end.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As you can see, Sarada's arrival is already changing events. I tried to show how things have changed in some less obvious ways, which is why I incorporated the scene at the Yamanaka's flower shop. Just remember, everything has the potential to be important.

Please leave a review! I really appreciate all the feedback I've been getting, it's motivated me to write faster. Thanks guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I haven't proof read this chapter as much as I would like because I was eager to get it out. If you notice any spelling/grammar mistakes, feel free to mention it in your review. I will be editing them out as they are found.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The city passed by in a blur a colors. Restaurants, stores, and other random buildings blended together in Naruto's peripheral vision. He was headed towards his apartment complex. His head was still spinning from his briefing with the Third Hokage.

" _No father is referenced on Sarada's birth certificate. And because her mother passed years ago, we may never know who he was."_

 _Naruto nodded in understanding. That was not uncommon for orphans. He didn't know who either of his parent were. Most of his life, he simply assumed they'd died in the Kyuubi attack.  
_

" _But this assault against Sarada has brought some startling information to light. She awakened a bloodline limit called the sharingan."_

" _The sharingan?" Naruto's face scrunched up a bit in confusion. Why did that sound familiar? He must have learned about it at the academy or something._

" _It's a doujutsu, unique to the Uchiha clan."_

 _Naruto blinked owlishly. The Uchiha clan?_

Naruto was unsure what to do with the information. He knew very little about the Uchiha clan, except for the fact that they were massacred about five years ago. And, as far as he knew, Sasuke was the only survivor. Growing up in the orphanage was probably the only reason she was alive today. As twisted as it sounds, Sarada was lucky.

 _The orphanage…_ Naruto's face became hard. He never thought the day would come when he would think someone was _lucky_ for growing up there. The place held a lot of unpleasant memories for the blond. He couldn't blame Sarada for running away.

His apartment building came into view. It was an old, yellow building that was in desperate need of a paint job. He landed on the fire escape. The rusted metal frame creaked and groaned in protest at the sudden weight. Naruto ignored its lamenting, and climbed in through his window.

The second his feet hit the floor Naruto began undressing. He pulled some clean clothes out of his closet and got dressed. It felt good to be out of the scrubs and in his regular outfit.

The flashing alarm clock by his bed told Naruto it was 6:36 pm. Naruto grabbed his bag and began unceremoniously shoving things inside.

 _Underwear, Check. Spare shirt, check. Pants, check…_ Naruto went through a mental check list as he packed to ensure he didn't forget something. He tossed a couple ramen cups into his bag for good measure and zipped it shut.

As Naruto walked back to the kitchen, the dried blood on his floor caught his eye. For a second it startled him – he had forgotten it was there. Sarada's footprints were dried into the carmine substance. Little imprints outlined in bright red. The thought of her almost bleeding out made his stomach churn uneasily.

 _She could have died._ The realization smacked into him like a sledge hammer. _She could have died in my apartment._ It was a macabre, unwelcome though. But he couldn't just shake it.

 _If she hadn't gotten the hospital in time…_

Naruto thoughts drifted back to the sight of Sarada in her hospital bed. She'd looked so… afraid? That wasn't the right word. On edge? It was like she expected something bad to happen at any moment. He felt a pang of sadness when he recognized it. It was a feeling Naruto knew well; the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to fall, and being powerless to stop it. He hated that feeling, and he hated seeing it on her face.

Naruto stepped into his bathroom to get the last few things he needed. It took the fluorescent bulb a few seconds of flickering to fully turn on and illuminate his little bathroom. Pale blue tiles lined the floor and walls, the grout in between them tinged a brownish-yellow from years of neglect.

A cheap mirror hung over his sink. A layer of filth clung its surface, which was speckled with the occasional fleck of spit and toothpaste.

 _What a mess…_ The realization was followed quickly by embarrassment. Sarada had been in his apartment! Shit, Sakura had been to his apartment too! Luckily, neither had seen his bathroom. That being said, the rest of his apartment wasn't exactly "clean" either. He grabbed his toothbrush and flipped the light off.

Naruto zipped his pack up and slung it over his shoulder before forming a one-handed ram seal. Three clones popped into existence simultaneously. No words were exchanged between their maker and the clones, but they knew why he'd summoned them.

"Aw man, I hate cleaning." One clone whined, its face scrunched into an unhappy scowl.

"Yeah, but what if Sarada or Sakura visit? Do you want them to be grossed out by our apartment?" Another clone countered.

The first clone hung its head in defeat. Naruto smirked. It was weird, watching himself argue with himself.

"Just get the place presentable guys." Naruto ordered. His clones nodded in affirmation. One even gave a mock salute.

Naruto climbed out the window and began roof hopping towards the hospital. As he ran, his thoughts went back to Sarada.

 _Rinha Sarada…_

He'd never heard of the Rinha family. And Sarada? What an unusual name. Who would name their daughter _salad_? Then again, Naruto could be considered short for narutomaki. Which was a ramen topping…

Maybe he shouldn't talk about weird names.

Speaking of ramen, Naruto hadn't eaten all day. His stomach rumbled in disapproval. Without a second thought, he altered his course. It had been too long since he'd had a nice, hot bowl of Ichiraku ramen.

* * *

Sasuke was pissed. It had taken twice as long to catch that god damn cat without Naruto. As much as he hated to admit it, the blonde's shadow clone technique was useful as hell.

 _Fucking demon cat_. Sasuke griped to himself. This type of mission should take him three minutes, not three hours. Therein lied the source of his pissed off attitude.

He was weak. Or at least, weaker than he should be. But instead of using his valuable time to train, he was stuck doing stupid D-rank missions. Sasuke understood the concept of the D-rank mission, and why it played an integral role inside of the village, so when his team got stuck doing them for a while he didn't complain.

Annoyed? Yes. Complain? No. Whining was below an Uchiha.

Everyone had to do them, and they (supposedly) were good preparation for more difficult missions. That being said, he'd assumed that by now he would have done at least one or two C-rank missions. Since becoming a genin all they'd done were D-ranks and team building exercises. It pissed him off.

It also annoyed Sasuke that Naruto got out of the Tora mission. Kakashi made the announcement that morning. Naruto would be doing an alternate assignment, part of which included working on his chakra control, which was severely lacking.

Sasuke smirked. _Severely lacking._ Those were the words Kakashi-sensei had used. While Sasuke was annoyed the blond didn't have to partake in the mission, he still felt a sense of pleasure at the thought that it was because Naruto needed remedial training. Sure, D-rank missions sucked. But they were still missions.

Sasuke turned his attention to the scroll in front of him. It was a C-rank raiton ninjutsu scroll, one Kakashi had given him. After wasting his day on D-rank missions, and hearing that Naruto was doing extra training, Sasuke demanded he get the chance to learn something new. His sensei, surprisingly, caved. This scroll was the result.

 _Raiton: Raiju Tsuiga_ (Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang). While it was just a C-rank ninjutsu, Sasuke recognized its potential. Any lightning ninjutsu had the power to be devastating if used correctly. For this particular technique, lightning chakra was focused into the users hand and manipulated to form the shape of a wolf. The wolf remained connected to the users hand by its tail. So long as the connection remained, the wolf could be controlled by the user. The wolf's tail could stretch a great distance (depending on the users proficiency with the technique), which allowed it to be used as a close, mid, or long range technique.

Kakashi had demonstrated it for him, and Sasuke was impressed. That being said, he'd had zero luck with the technique so far. He was able to get the lightning chakra to manifest in his hand, but was unable to manipulate it any further.

Kakashi told him to expect it to take several weeks to learn the technique, and a month or more to fully master it, at his current level. That pissed Sasuke off even further. If he could just activate his sharingan, he'd be able to copy the jutsu in moments.

Sasuke tried again. He sped through the hand seals with practiced perfection, and willed his chakra to form a current in his left hand. Raiton chakra flashed into life. This time however, instead of the regular white-blue color he'd been seeing, the raiton chakra took on a pure white color. It was the same color Kakashi's technique had been.

He willed the chakra to jump from his hand and take shape. A small, erratic bolt of white lightning arced from his hand. It shot forward a few feet, the front taking a vaguely animal-like shape, before the chakra dissipated into nothing.

Sasuke fell to his knees, panting in exhaustion. He was out of chakra. Still, he couldn't stop the smirk that tugged at his lips. A few weeks? Ha! It was only day one and look at how far he'd progressed. He might not have the sharingan yet, but he wasn't called a prodigy for nothing.

Absently, he wondered how Sakura was doing with the genjutsu Kakashi had given her. After Sasuke's demand was rewarded with a technique, Sakura had begged for one as well. She was rewarded with a C-rank genjutsu.

Uwasawosure Bakage, or Speak of the Devil, no jutsu. It was a genjutsu that was activated by the sound of the user's voice. It allowed the caster to inspire emotions in their target. Different emotions could be inspired depending on the user's intention. Fear, hate, love, cowardice, and so on. It was easier to strengthen or enhance an emotion an opponent was already feeling, and if done correctly, the victim might never realize they were under a genjutsu at all. Such a subtle genjutsu could be deadly as a support technique.

Sasuke knew firsthand how dangerous genjutsu could be. If Sakura could master a few powerful ones, she would become an infinitely more useful teammate.

Now if only they could do something about Naruto.

* * *

Sarada was alone. It was relatively quiet in her room, save for the ambient sounds of the hospital. The subtle beeping of machines and indistinct chatter of nurses and doctors passing by her door sounded far away.

The hospital was very different than what she was used to. It seemed almost alien. The equipment, although similar to what she'd seen her mother use, was bulky and older looking. The large corded phone and box TV served as outdated reminders that she was trapped in a time not her own.

She was no one. She had no friends and no family. Hell, she barely had any acquaintances! Everyone who ever knew her, the real her anyway, was gone. Even though her mother was still alive, the Sakura of this time wasn't her mother. Just like the Naruto of this time wasn't the Seventh. None of them knew her, and she didn't know them. All of her friends – Himiwari, Chocho, Mitsuki, Boruto – they didn't exist anymore. The time line was probably so fucked up by now, they might never get to exist.

Sarada rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to look at her room anymore – it was too familiar and foreign all at the same time. She felt like she was trapped in a dream, and she wanted desperately to wake up. She wanted to have breakfast with her mother, or play ninja with Bolt, like they did when they were kids. She wanted to be able to cry into the Sevenths shoulder and just forget all this ever happened.

But she couldn't. This was her life now.

Being alone with her thoughts made everything worse. She had no idea when Naruto would be back, but she couldn't just lay in silence and wait.

After several minutes of feeling sorry for herself, Sarada sat up. She needed a distraction. She crawled to the edge of her bed and flicked on the old box TV. White static glowed on the screen.

She frowned and flicked though the channels. Static, static, different color static, and more static. Did television shows not exist yet? Then why bother having a TV at all?

The big VCR on top of the TV caught her attention. If they had a VCR, then they must have some movies stashed somewhere. She pulled the stand's drawers open, rifling through them in search of something to watch. She found a couple tapes stacked inside. She grabbed a random one and read the title.

 _Princess Gale and The Seven Colored Rainbow, Part 1._ The cover had a young woman at the forefront. In the background two armies were clashing, and a rainbow stretched over both warring sides. It looked like one of those crappy civilian made movies that glorified ninja battles. The ones she'd seen in the past were horrible. The worst, or funniest, part was how obvious it was that the directors knew nothing about how chakra worked.

Still, it was better than nothing. She popped the tape in and hit the play button. The static flashed to black, and then the film started to play. Sarada lay back down, happy to have something to fill the silence.

It wasn't that bad. Some of the acting was a bit overdone here and there, but Princess Gale was pretty well portrayed. Before she knew it, she was 50 minutes into the movie.

"Shishimaru! We have to unleash the power of our seven-color chakra!"

"No princess, it is too dangerous! Stand back!"

"This is my responsibility! I cannot abandon you here!"

Sarada was so into the movie, she didn't even notice Naruto's arrival until —

"Hey! I love this movie!"

The exclamation jarred Sarada back to reality. Her head whipped to the left in surprise.

Orange. That's what jumped out at her first. Naruto's outfit was _very_ orange. She'd always known the seventh had a fondness for the color, but this was taking it a bit far. His outfit just screamed _, 'I'm over here! Use me for target practice!'_

"Have you gotten to the part where they use their rainbow chakra to fight Mao?"

Sarada shook her head no. Naruto shot her a grin, and she couldn't help but smile in return.

"I'm guessing you really like orange?" Sarada's question surprised even herself. Who was she to question Nanadaime's taste in clothing?

 _He's not the Hokage yet._ She reminded herself. Besides, they had to find something to talk about. This could be a good icebreaker.

"What—oh my outfit you mean? Heh, yeah, I guess. I got this on sale from the Ninja supply store. It was 90% off, can you believe it!"

Sarada could believe it. What she couldn't believe is that a _Ninja_ supply store had carried it in the first place. It spoke volumes to Naruto's strength, or resilience, that he'd survived all those years wearing such a bright color.

 _It's probably at least reinforced clothing_. Sarada wagered. If he bought it at a Ninja supply store, most of their outfits had unique properties of some kind. Fire resistance or increased durability, things of that nature. Too bad it was so bright.

She watched as Naruto let his pack fall gracelessly to the floor, and placed a nondescript white bag on her bedside table. From it, he pulled out two containers with the logo for Ichiraku's Ramen on the side.

"Hungry?" The blond held out a container towards her. She accepted it. She wasn't the biggest ramen fan, but she had to admit it smelled pretty good.

"Thanks."

Naruto had turned his attention back to the movie, so Sarada followed suit. She smiled to herself. Being around Naruto was comforting, in a way. She suddenly felt more relaxed than she had all day.

* * *

Naruto was laying on a cot on the floor. He had suspicions that the nurse brought him a jacked up one on purpose. It felt like it was full of rocks or something. Whatever, he'd slept on worse.

After the movie he'd talked with Sarada for a while. Well, if he was being honest, he did most of the talking. Naruto talked a lot when he was nervous. He hated awkward silences, so he figured the best way to avoid an awkward silence was to talk a whole lot. May not be the best logic, but it had worked pretty well for him so far.

That's not to say Sarada didn't talk, it's just that Naruto definitely controlled the conversation. He learned pretty quickly that Sarada didn't like talking about her past. She never came out and said it, but Naruto could tell she felt uncomfortable whenever he asked her about it. He understood what that was like, so he steered clear of that topic.

Naruto enjoyed learning more about the girl. He'd found out she loved reading, dango and sweets, and that her favorite colors were red and black. He had to admit, he felt a little unsure about his orange outfit after the way she'd questioned it. Was orange not a cool color? He always assumed it was a super cool outfit since he'd bought it from a Ninja supply store. Maybe there was a reason he was able to get it so cheaply?

Naruto really wanted to impress her. He didn't have many friends his own age, let alone pretty girls. He contemplated using some of his savings to get a new red and black outfit. He'd managed to save quite a bit with all the D-rank missions they'd been doing. His expenses were minimal, and he still got a stipend from the Hokage every week.

Was it lame to dress differently to try an impress a girl? Would it be too obvious? What if she noticed and called him out on it?

"Are you still awake?" Sarada's whisper pulled Naruto from his thoughts.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Earlier, when the Third was here, you said you wanted to be Hokage?"

"Yeah." Naruto repeated. He rolled onto his side to get more comfortable. He was now facing her bed. Sarada must have been on the other side, because he couldn't really see her from him angle on the floor.

"Why?"

Sarada's question surprised him. It was innocent. She wasn't bashing his dream, or laughing at him, she just wanted to know _why_. Naruto's knee-jerk reaction was to spout off some spiel about being recognized, or becoming the strongest, but he hesitated. Something about the honest curiosity in her voice made him stop and think about it. She wasn't being skeptical. She was just genuinely interested.

So Naruto wanted to give her a genuine response. Becoming Hokage was something he'd always dreamed of. But why? Why Hokage? He could have chosen any number of dreams, made any number of goals, why that one specifically?

Naruto thought back to his time at the orphanage. Those were dark days. The workers never physically abused him, no one ever hit or kicked him, but the emotional and verbal abuse was constant. The feeling of being hated, truly hated, is not something a child should experience. It was hard on him. Most days, Naruto had no one to turn to for comfort or support.

Up until he started the academy, Naruto's only real friend was the Hokage. The only good memories he had from that part of his life were of the Old Man's visits. Those were the only times Naruto really felt loved.

He remembered the frightened look on the caregivers' faces when Sarutobi stormed the orphanage. A sea of white-masked ANBU followed the Old Man, like a miniature army. Or at least that's how he remembered it. It was one of the best days of his young life. It was the day the Hokage found out what was really going on in that hell-hole. He took Naruto out, gave him his own apartment, and made sure he had everything he needed. Groceries were delivered regularly, and he was given a weekly allowance. ANBU stopped in on a daily basis to make sure he okay. They would often stay and play games with him.

That was a definite turning point in his life. He owed the Old Man more than he could ever repay.

Naruto couldn't count the number of times the Third would drop by and visit. Naruto knew how busy the Hokage was, so those visits made Naruto feel extra special. It was a little known fact that Sarutobi couldn't cook, so on those occasions the Old Man would make one of the few dishes he could cook without burning; ramen. When he thought about it, the Third was the closest thing Naruto had to a father.

"I guess it's because of the Old Man. Growing up, I didn't really have anyone. The only person who was nice to me was the Hokage. It might sound silly, but he made me feel like my life mattered…" Naruto trailed off. In his mind, the word Hokage seemed almost synonymous with superhero.

"I want to be able to do that. To become the strongest, so I can protect everyone, especially the people who can't protect themselves. That's why, someday, I _will_ be Hokage."

Sarada was quiet. To be honest, she was caught off guard by his answer. No one her age really knew what Naruto's childhood had been like – he never talked about it, and they certainly didn't teach it in school – but it didn't sound like it wasn't a very good one.

His words stirred something inside her. She wanted to help him. The Nanadaime had done so much for her, and now she had a chance to return the favor.

She'd learned a lot about how Naruto's techniques worked from training with Bolt and Konohamaru. Combine that with what she'd learned in school, and what the Nanadaime had told her himself, and she had a pretty good grasp the types of techniques that suited Naruto best. She couldn't teach him anything directly, but she could definitely steer him in the right direction.

First, she'd have to find out what he already knew for techniques. That was information she could only get from Naruto. She hoped young-Naruto was more open to bragging about his power than old-Naruto was.

She would not be disappointed.

"I think you'll be a good Hokage." Sarada said. She rolled over, onto the side of her bed facing Naruto, so she could look at him. His had a surprised look on his face. She guessed he didn't expect her to say that.

"I bet you already know a ton of powerful ninjutsu." She said with a smile. It was bait.

"Well, I mostly know the academy jutsu. But there is one really cool jutsu I know." By now Naruto was sitting up, all hints of sleepiness gone from his face. "It's a really cool forbidden technique!" he exclaimed.

"It's called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! It lets me make solid clones of myself." To demonstrate, he threw his hands into the ram sign. A hollow pop and 7 clones appeared in random positions around the room. They all flashed Sarada a big grin and a thumbs up before disappearing.

So he didn't know the rasengan, fuinjutsu, futon jutsu, or any of his other famous techniques? Sarada must have gone back to the beginning of his genin career, she realized. She understood how shadow clones worked pretty well because of her regular bouts with Bolt.

"That's so cool! What can you do with them?" Sarada mimicked his enthusiasm. She didn't have to try too hard. It was impressive he could make seven shadow clones so easily at such a young age, but she could sense his chakra reserves and knew that he could easily make a whole lot more.

"Well, they are pretty great in battle. I usually make a bunch so I can outnumber and swarm the enemy!" Naruto emphasized the last word by punching a closed fist into the palm of his other hand.

It sounded like he didn't understand the true power of the technique. That surprised her. Who would teach him a forbidden jutsu without fully explaining its properties? And how could she explain how it worked, without revealing that she knew how it worked?

Perhaps she could feign awe? Pretend to be super impressed and lead him to the correct conclusion?

"That must be super useful for training."

Naruto shot her a puzzled look. It was kind of cute, she thought. She felt her cheek flush red and hoped he didn't notice.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Maybe I misunderstood. I assumed you that would keep all their memories when they pop. You don't?"

Naruto thought for a second. The clones he'd left at his apartment popped a while back. He could remembered their bickering as they cleaned.

"I guess I do." Naruto admitted thoughtfully. He'd never really noticed that part of the technique. But how would that help with his training?

"That's so cool!" Sarada exclaimed, in mock awe. "You must be able to train so fast! I can't imagine how easy it would be to learn a jutsu when you can make a ton of clones to help out!" Sarada noticed a look of understanding fill Naruto's face. She felt a sense of pride that she was able to help him learn that useful piece of information.

* * *

The next day.

"Good morning my youthful students! Are you sufficiently prepared for our mission!?"

Normally, Tenten could deal with her sensei's exuberant attitude just fine. But it was 5:00 AM, and she was not a morning person.

"Gai-sensei, why are we here so early? We aren't even leaving the village until 8:00!" Tenten hoped he wasn't going to try and cram a morning training session in. The last thing she wanted was to start their mission already exhausted.

"I spent yesterday afternoon filling out these requests and getting them approved." Gai handed each of them a piece of paper as he spoke. Tenten looked at hers. It was a SF (Standard Form) 345. In other words, a messenger bird request form. It already bore a stamp of approval.

She understood immediately. You would never guess it by looking at him, but Gai was a master strategist. The jonin thought of everything, and wanted to be prepared for every possible outcome. This request form would enable her to pick up a messenger bird scroll. The scroll, when used, would summon one of Konoha's many trained messenger birds.

 _In case we encounter trouble._ Tenten acknowledged, nodding in approval. Not a bad idea. She was sure Neji and Lee had similar request forms for other supplies Gai thought may prove pertinent.

A lazier jonin might have forgone the paper work, as it was a lot of trouble to go through for a simple C-rank mission. You could call Gai many things, but lazy was not one of them.

"Pick up the supplies specified on your respective forms. Then report to training ground 132. I will bring breakfast, and fully brief you on the mission at hand."

Although he could be a major pain in her butt sometimes, Tenten was glad to have a sensei like Gai.

"Break!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait guys. Between college and work, I've been very busy. The good news is the next chapter is like 85-90% done. Just working on a couple scenes.

Thank you for your patience! Please drop a review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Wow, two uploads in under two weeks! Chapter 6 is almost mostly done as well, so keep an eye out!

 **Special Note:** I am in desperate need of a beta reader. Please let me know if you are interested.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Sweet! We're gonna be neighbors!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He flashed Sarada a bright grin. She felt butterflies erupt in her stomach.

 _Neighbors?!_ She thought nervously.

"See, my place is across the hall!" Naruto continued as he pointed towards his door, obviously oblivious to her inner turmoil.

Sarada followed his finger. A white door emblazoned with the numbers '2 6' stood a little ways down the hall. There was a gap between the two numbers where a 0 used to be, but she could still make out its dirty outline against the white paint.

"And this is you." Naruto pulled out a key. ANBU had dropped it off this morning, along with an address, a note from the Hokage, and Sarada's first pay check.

Naruto turned the key and strode in. The apartment was unimpressive. There was some simple furniture, including a couch and a bed, but not much else. It was pretty utilitarian, but Sarada didn't mind.

"It looks like a cleaner version of your place."

"Erm, well, uh… yeah..." Naruto mumbled lamely, unable to think of a suitable excuse.

Sarada laughed a little at his flustered reply, her butterflies temporarily forgotten. She set down all the documents and papers the Hokage had given her – except for her paycheck. She would need that, Naruto had promised to take her clothes shopping today.

* * *

Naruto hopped on one foot as he hurriedly tried to yank his ninja sandal on. He was changing in his bathroom while Sarada waited in the living room/bedroom/kitchen area. It was a small apartment.

 _Twip._

 _Wha-?_

Naruto's foot fell out from under him. He spun his arms to try and catch himself, but failed. His head smashed into the edge of toilet with a meaty thud. He went out like a light.

Naruto awoke to a throbbing headache.

"Fuck a duck!" He hissed quietly, hoping Sarada hadn't heard his fall. How long had he been out?

 _Ow, ow, ow!_ What the hell happened? His looked around, trying to discover the cause his fall, only to realize he was no longer in his bathroom.

He was in a sewer of some sort. The floor was covered in aged, yellow tiles. Random puddles littered the ground. Some were shallow while others were surprisingly deep. The walls were gray concrete, cracked and crumbling in places.

 _Where am I?_ Directly in front of him stood a great gate. It was taller than the gates of Konoha, and wider still. It consisted of great metal bars, each one thicker around than his torso. From what he could tell, a single leaf of paper was the only thing that held them shut.

"Hello?" His voice echoed throughout the cavernous sewer.

A solitary eye flickered into existence from within the darkened prison. The eye itself was larger than Naruto. A crimson iris burned at its center, split in half by a slitted pupil.

It regarded him for a moment. All of a suddenly, Naruto felt infinitesimally small, like a mouse standing before a lion.

A second eye blinked open, followed by a fang-filled smile full of impossibly white teeth. A feeling of absolute dread smacked into Naruto like a freight train, and he got the distinct feeling he was about to die. Naruto didn't realize it at the time, but that horrible feeling was killing intent.

He stumbled backs, trying to put some distance between the cage and himself.

A deep, inhuman laugh filled the air. Not a second later, the rest of the creature materialized from behind the bars. It was a blood-red fox. Nine behemoth tails coiled and uncoiled behind it, like snakes about to strike. The beast was laying down; its head rested lazily upon its front most paws.

"To think, our first meeting would be the result of you slipping in a bathroom." The surprisingly human-like voice sounded both annoyed, and... something else. Amused maybe?

"Kyu-Kyuubi." He managed to stutter.

The massive beast's face twisted under a dark smile.

"Good, you're smart enough to feel fear."

Naruto's brain was still putting two and two together. He'd fallen in his bathroom only to wake up in front of the Kyuubi. Was he inside the seal?

"Why am I here?"

"I didn't make this seal, did I?" The Kyuubi snapped.

Naruto could feel its eyes look him up and down, as if sizing up him. The fox seemed to relax, and the horrible feeling from before subsided.

"You hit your head pretty hard. This…" The fox paused, as if searching for the right words, "… _visit_ is probably related to that."

Naruto nodded. Since he knew absolutely nothing about seals, so he would have to default to the Kyuubi's knowledge.

It's not like he would have argued with the fox anyways.

"Erm… any idea how I can get out?" Naruto questioned. He looked around the room again, searching for an exit. There was only one; a long hall that seemed to stretch forever into darkness. It didn't look very promising.

The Kyuubi performed what Naruto could only assume was a shrug.

"You said I hit my head? Will I be ok?" Naruto absently felt the back of his head. The fox snorted in derision.

"As if a fall could seriously harm my container. Now stop asking questions, I'm trying to sleep." The Kyuubi closed both its eyes, as if to reinforce the idea.

Naruto was surprised by the fox's attitude. He expected more fire, more hate, from the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune. What the Naruto didn't realize, was how intricately tied his physical and mental state the seal actually was. In his alternate life, the majority of his early encounters with the beast happened (or would have happened) during periods of extreme emotional or physical distress. This weakened the seal, and allowed the Kyuubi progressively more and more freedom, as it slowly eroded the power of the fuinjutsu.

But presently, Naruto was in no danger, he wasn't under duress, and the seal was functioning perfectly. By some fluke, he'd managed to stumble into the seal while it was still functioning at full strength. As a result, the Kyuubi's power was fully suppressed, and the fox was tired.

Of course, Naruto knew none of this.

"You aren't what I expected." Naruto said flatly.

One of the Kyuubi's eyes cracked open and glared at him.

"You are _exactly_ what I expected." The beast countered. The edges of its mouth pulled up at this, as if smirking at an inside joke.

Naruto didn't get it, but he understood he was being insulted. His cheeks puffed out angrily and he scowled.

"The _Uchiha_ brat is calling for you."

The way that Kyuubi spat out 'Uchiha' caught Naruto off guard. So far the large fox seemed more annoyed than anything else, but now there was an undeniable level of contempt in its voice.

The world began to feel fuzzy, like it was becoming less and less real. He realized he was returning to the physical world.

"She's lying to you by the way."

 _Huh? Sarada?_ Naruto was about to ask the fox what it meant when he woke up. He was back in his bathroom, lying flat on his back.

"Naruto?" Sarada called from outside the door. "Are you ok?"

"Uhh, yeah!" Naruto called out. "I just knocked something over!"

 _I just knocked something over?_ _That's the best I could come up with?_ Naruto berated himself, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Oh–okay."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief when she accepted his answer. He stood up, and rubbed the back of his head to ease its throbbing.

 _How did I slip?_ Naruto wondered. He examined his floor to find the cause of his fall. He couldn't see anything trash or anything, in fact, the floor was cleaner than it had ever been.

Wait a second, cleaner than it had ever been? Shit, he had used a wax on the tiles! He must have slipped on the newly polished surface. Who would have guessing cleaning could hurt so much.

Naruto finished getting dressed and looked in the mirror. He adjusted his headband to make sure it was centered. As he did so, the Kyuubi's words flitted through his head.

 _Lying?_ How would the Kyuubi know Sarada was lying to him? More importantly, why should he trust anything the fox said? Still, he couldn't help but wonder what the fox meant. It left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that he couldn't quite shake.

If Sarada was lying, then what exactly was she lying about?

* * *

"How about this?" Naruto held up a bright red monstrosity that had no business being in the girls' section of a ninja supply store. For the past thirty minutes he had been making outfit suggestions based off of two criteria; was it black and red, and was it girl clothing?

"I don't think that's my size." Sarada offered the excuse to cushion his ego. The blond boy did have much fashion sense, and while Sarada never considered herself a girly girl, she still wanted to look good.

Naruto nodded sagely, as if he'd known that all along.

"Yeh, it does look a little big. I guess I'm no good with girl clothing." He admitted.

The Ninja supply store they were in, the Gilded Kunai, had a pretty good selection of tools and clothing. She'd already found three outfits she liked. Naruto was having similarly good luck finding clothes. The blond had found a black jacket with orange trim, and some traditional back ninja-pants to match. The jacket looked very similar to his old one, just a little more fitted and a lot less orange.

"I think I'll try on what I have." Sarada moved over to the fitting room. The idea of trying on clothes for Naruto made her nervous. She reminded herself that she wasn't _really_ trying them on for him. She was just picking out a decent ninja outfit, and he happened to be here.

For some reason, that line of logic did little to stop the butterflies from returning to her stomach.

Her first outfit was a short qipao dress. It was sleeveless and red, with slits that ran up either side to allow for more freedom. Underneath, she wore a black pair of spandex bike shorts. A kunai pouch was strapped to her upper left thigh, just within reach of her fingertips.

It looked good on her, she was confident in that. It actually looked a lot like her old outfit. But she knew her mother had worn a very similar – if somewhat looser and longer – dress as a genin, and she didn't want her clothes to remind Naruto of Sakura.

She stripped quickly, and examined her two remaining outfits. One was definitely riskier than what she normally wore, but she thought it was almost guaranteed to grab Naruto's attention. And while that wasn't her main goal in picking out gear, she'd be lying if she said it wasn't something she that wanted.

Sarada steeled her resolved and made a choice. She went with the riskier route. It took a few minutes to get the clothing on, but end the end, she thought it looked good. A black, one-piece bodysuit hugged her lithe frame, making her figure much more noticeable. It was sleeveless, and the legs stopped just after they began, covering less than the bike shorts had. The skintight article of clothing was very flexible, which allowed for a full range of movement and suited her fighting style.

She wore a matching set of formfitting arm and leg warmers, with traditional black shinobi-sandals. The arm and leg warmers acted as decent armor, as the material could become hard as steel when chakra was manipulated into the fabric. The material wasn't cheap, but it was worth it when faced with a life-or-death situation. To finish the look, she had the kunai pouch strapped to her thigh, in approximately the same position as before.

It was actually far less scandalous than what many kunoichi wore. In fact, this style of tight-fitting bodysuits was very popular, both for their comfortability and practicality — for freedom of movement, not defensive capabilities, obviously.

 _And for the way it makes your butt look…_ Sarada noted. Like all ninja, she worked hard to stay in shape, and it showed.

She walked out of the fitting room. Naruto was bouncing on the heels of his feet in a bored manner. That stopped the moment he saw her. She reddened in embarrassment when she realized he was staring.

"What do you think?"

"I think you look great!" Naruto blurted out, without a second thought. "Uh, I mean, you look good. Very ninja-like." Naruto was redder than her now. _Very ninja-like? Nice save, idiot!_ Naruto berated himself, embarrassed.

Sarada almost beamed at the compliment, thoroughly enjoying his reaction. She wore the outfit out of the store. She also bought four extra pairs, and the first outfit she tried on, for nostalgic reasons. Naruto had his clones carry everything back to their apartments.

The rest of their shopping went by in a blur. They stopped at a few more stores, some ninja some not. She noticed Naruto got a lot of dirty looks, but since the blond didn't seem to care, she tried to ignore them.

Sarada's new look was attracting a lot of unwanted stares. She was beginning to doubt over her style change. To compensate, she bought a short, robe-style kimono that went to her mid-thigh. It was a dark red color, with three-quarter sleeves and a sash that she tied to hold it closed. She figured she could wear it when she wasn't training or fighting.

* * *

"Is that Naruto?"

"Looks like it." Shikamaru responded disinterestedly.

"Who's that with him?" Ino questioned. Naruto was down the road a ways, standing outside a dango stand with some pretty girl she didn't know.

"Looks like a girl." Chouji said between mouthfuls of chips. Ino rolled her eyes. Her teammates were useless.

"Hey Naruto!" She called out, waving. "I almost didn't recognize you in those clothes! Who's your friend?"

Naruto blinked in surprise at her sudden appearance.

"Oh, hey Ino. This is Sarada."

"What are you guys up to?" Chouji asked, only half listening. The heavy-set genin was busy eyeballing the dango stand behind them.

"Looks like they're on a date." Shikamaru offered.

Ino couldn't help herself. She laughed.

"A date? The dead-last? Yeah right!"

Naruto's face fell at her words.

In Ino's defense, she felt guilt almost immediately. She was so use to picking on the blond that the comment just slipped out.

Sarada felt heat rise to her face. This time it wasn't a blush, but her temper, rising to the surface.

"What's your problem!?" Sarada snapped angrily. She wanted to do a whole lot more than yell at the blond girl, but she reigned in her temper. Actions spoke louder than words, and right now she wanted to disprove Ino's bitchy comment.

Without a second thought, she stepped closer to Naruto and looped her arm through his. Naruto's face when from sad, to confused, to grinning.

Ino's mouth fell open. Was this some weird, alternate universe?

"Well that's interesting." Shikamaru noted.

* * *

Ino apologized vehemently, and her team joined them for lunch at the dango stand.

Naruto gave them an abridged version of yesterday's events, minus certain details. He didn't want to betray Sarada's trust, and figured she could always share more if she wanted.

Ino felt her opinion of the blond go up a few notches. Maybe he wasn't such an idiot after all.

"So, were you really a date?" Chouji asked.

"Not really." Naruto admitted, "We were just out shopping." As much as he wished the alternative was true, Naruto knew that wasn't the case. He was still confused by what Sarada putting her arm through his meant, but resolved to think about it later.

Ino noticed Sarada looked a little disappointed at Naruto's words. Jeesh, maybe she'd given him too much credit. This girl obviously had a crush on him. Who could blame her? The way he told it, Naruto basically saved her life.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on you chakra control?" Ino asked. Sakura shared the information, of course. Ino couldn't say she was surprised. Naruto had the worst chakra control of any genin she knew, he was just lucky enough to have tons of chakra to compensate.

"I'm am." Naruto said with a grin. "I made a couple hundred shadow clones this morning! They've been training with chakra exercises all day."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that. He was familiar with the technique, and the idea of creating a couple hundred clones for training was insane. The mental fatigue alone could leave someone comatose, and the amount chakra required to make that many could literally kill someone. Both were reasons for its S-rank status as a forbidden technique.

"I should probably dispel them to see how much progress they've made." Naruto added. He cancelled his jutsu, and felt a rush of new memories flood in.

"It's probably not a good idea to disperse them all at – ." Shikamaru's sentence was cut short when Naruto's head fell forward and smacked into the table.

"— once." The lazy Nara finished.

* * *

"My village is poor! We couldn't afford a higher rank mission!" Tazuna voice shook with fear as he tried to explain himself. His nerves were shot, the assassination attempt saw to that. He couldn't believe Gatou hired a pair of missing-nin to hunt him down. He was expecting regular gangsters and mercenaries, not full-fledged mist-ninja, at least not way out here. They weren't even to wave yet!

"Lying about the mission can lead to the wrong team being assigned. It's a good way to get yourself, and the ninja guarding you, killed." There was a hardness to Gai's voice that sounded almost alien coming from the man's mouth. The jonin rarely got serious, but he didn't respond well when someone put his students at risk.

"I'm sorry. My daughter, my grandson, my whole village is depending on this bridge. Please help us." Tazuna begged. He was on his knees, hands clasped before him in a pleading manner.

Gai was unhappy with the situation, but he'd known something was up from the get go. That's why he had been so careful to plan for the possibility of things going south. Sometimes clients lied. The ninja who live to talk about it were the ones who planned for the unexpected.

The Land of Waves was an island nation located just outside the Land of Fire. It was about a full day's run for a genin team. Gai had carried Tazuna this far to avoid lose time. As it stood, they were over halfway there.

"If we hurry, we can reach wave well before nightfall." Gai said. He pulled a scroll from his belt, and in the same motion, he activated the seal matrix it contained. A falcon appeared in a poof of smoke.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Let me know what you think of Sarada's outfit. If enough people hate it, I would consider changing it back. **EDIT** : since FFNet does not allow links, I posted the title, artist, and where to find the picture that Sarada's outfit is based on in my profile. It's very easy to find, for those interested.

Please review! A lot of work goes into writing, so I appreciate all the feedback I get.


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